Arriving - only a little bit late! (Mercy,Kale & Ironforge)

[JetAlmeara]

Mercy thought she had made pretty good time in making her way from her own herd lands to this one - specifically considering that she had never made such a trip before. In fact if she hadn't spent a bit of extra time with Char and Bangil she probably would have made it here on time. That was pretty darn great as far as she was concerned.

Cheered at the thought of spending time in a herd again after taking this trip alone Mercy hummed a happy tune as she trotted down the forest path, picking up her knees in time to the tune and generally having a grand old time with her entrance. As she went she began to daydream about the sort of Soqulli she would meet in this herd. Her father had told her that Ironforge trained Knights and she could only imagine all the dashing and gentlemanly stallions that would live there... and the sweet and kind damsels that were always around them in the stories. This..was going to be Amazing!

 

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale stood not far from where Ironforge was. Both stallions were standing in the trees watching the arrival of the new trainee. Kale, due to his colorful pelt, had to hide deeper in the trees that he would have liked but he still had a fairly unobstructed view of the mare as as pranced happily along, humming a tune. He had remembered back when Ironforge had accepted him as a student how excited he was over the prospect but Kale was fairly certain he had never been that excited about it. Training to be a knight was hard and something that shouldn't be taken lightly. Though Ironforge had agreed to have this mare come here as a favor to a friend Kale was wondering if it was such a good idea. She was young and obviously didn't look at this as seriously as one should. He hated to admit it, but he was fairly certain she would lose that smile very quickly once things got started.

Alright it was time to move. With a nod to Ironforge Kale moved through the trees at a quick pace, getting ahead of the mare once more. Once he was where he wanted to be he came out of the trees, head high, his large body blocking the path she was one, his muscles well formed under hise colorful hide. "You are late little one." He glanced down at her, she seemed so small compared to him, how would she fair with all this training? "Stop the humming. Do you wish to attract predators, they like the sound of unsuspecting mares." Kale gave his large head a shake, causing his long brained mane to dance around a bit before settling down against his shoulder again. And then, because he remembered Ironforge doing something similar to him on their first meeting he added. "Is that fancy stepping your form of warming up? Alright then, let's begin training. Now tell me why you want to be a knight while we go to the training grounds." He began to walk, knowing that Ironforge would be making his appearance shortly adding his commentary to the situation.  

[JetAlmeara]

Ironforge watched silently as the mare came towards them, although nothing on his face betrayed his thoughts he was thinking along much the same lines as Kale. This small mare..who was so obviously naive about the ways of the world with her humming and prancing...how was she ever going to become a Knight? Knights had be to calm, calculating..precise..perhaps he was judging this mare too harshly, he had after all just seen her, had not even talked to her yet..but Ironforge considered himself a fairly good judge of character and even this small dose of Mercy had him just a touch worried.

Still..he had promised his friend that he would train her..and he had enlisted the help of Kale to do so. It was an important thing for Kale to learn in any case - that way when Ironforge was gone he could be sure that he was leaving behind someone who could continue his teachings. With a responding nod to Kale, Ironforge watched as the stallion cut through the woods to intercept the mare. He would join them at the actual training grounds - let Kale establish the first rapport with her, such a connection was important in training. Turning he took a separate path through the woods to await their arrival in the same clearing where he had first started Kale's training. He could only hope that his first impression of the mare was wrong...that they would find there was something more behind those pretty pink eyes then the vapid naive filly she appeared to be right now.  

[JetAlmeara]

Mercy nearly tripped on her hair when the colorful stallion came out of no where to block her path, skidding to a jerky halt she gaped at him for a moment. He was so bright! And look at those muscles!..he was like no stallion that she in her life so far had ever seen before!

...But he didn't look anything like the descriptions she had been given of Ironforge by her father. Ironforge was supposed to be grey..and shaggy. This stallion was non of those things although he was certainly large, the only part of the description that seemed to be true. Recovering from her startlement quickly Mercy flashed him a dazzling look and pranced closer. "Hi! I"m Mercy..you don't look anything like what my father said you would. I'm only a little bit late but I had to stop along the way and tell a mare and her friend how to find their other friend whose staying with my herd. They had foals and they're so cute...I sure do miss them a lot. There are predators here?" She paused for a brief moment, turning her head this way and that and perhaps giving the stallion a touch of hope that she might be done talking.

But it was not to be and as soon as she turned her head back she went on "I don't see any, I'm plenty warmed up though I've been trotting the whole morning, its a very long trip you know. I don't know why I want to be a Knight, my father told me that I had to learn about the world and seemed to think this would be a good idea!" She finally finished, beaming at him expectantly. This was just all so exciting that Mercy could hardly contain herself.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Well, she sure was...energetic. But Kale wasn't exactly sure if it was the type of energetic that would help her out or simply annoy both him and Ironforge. Only time would tell. "Kaleidoscope." He introduced himself with a slight bob of his head as he continued to walk along. "And I don't know your father." Though her comment about being late made him stop and turn around to face her once more. "Only a little bit late?" His eyes narrowed. While he hated to be rude or mean to this mare he also knew that letting things slide on the first day would only fuel the idea that it was okay to be late or lazy in the future. No this was something that needed to be nipped in the bud right now. "You think it's okay to be just a little late. That when you need to go rescue someone and you show up just a little late that everything will still be okay? This will be the last time you will show up late or you can make the long march home and tell your daddy that you couldn't hack it on the first day." He lowered his head a bit to give her a stern look directly in the eyes. "Do I make myself clear?"

He didn't wait for her response but still expected it. They were already running late and Ironforge would be waiting in the training grounds. "I assure you little girl that there are predators out here whether you can see them or not." He continued on in silence for a few moments. So she was training to be a knight because her father had wanted her to learn about the world. Certainly not the best reason to. "Well we're about to find out if it was a good idea or not." He told her stepping out of the forest into the training area. Sure enough Ironforge was already there, Kale made sure to flash the shaggy stallion a look that said 'what have you gotten us into?' and gave his head a subtle shake. "Ironforge." He nodded in greeting, more for the benefit of the mare, knowing this was the stallion her father had talked to, before glancing back at Mercy. "Seems the princess here had a long journey and feels ready to start training right away."  

[JetAlmeara]

Mercy, once more, almost tripped on herself as the stallion suddenly rounded on her, she had to scramble a bit to keep from crashing right into him as well as keep her balance, using her wings to help steady herself as he fussed. Well...someone was a little bit uptight now wasn't he? Obviously she wouldn't be late to rescue someone..but this was hardly a life and death situation now was it? Then again she didn't want to be sent home so quickly..how embarrassing would that be? Everyone would be so disappointed in her. "Alright..alright" She answered him before he went all crazy and gave her a lecture or something. Jeez.

Trailing along after Kaleidoscope Mercy huffed slightly, his little lecture having taken a bit of the fun out of the meeting. She really didn't see any 'vicious predators' in the area however..he was just being overly cautious as far as she was concerned.

But then they came to the meadow and she spotted the stallion she was supposed to be meeting. Surely he would be nicer then this rainbow colored bully she was currently following around. He father would never have sent her to someone mean. Darting around Kale with a quick hop and flap of her wings Mercy trotted up to Ironforge with a suddenly cheerful look on her face. "Hello I'm..."

And whatever else it was she had to say was cut off as she came within range of him. Without uttering a sound or giving a hint of his intentions away Ironforge charged forward, a carefully timed check into her shoulder threw the mare to the ground and slamming hooves on either side of her head kept her there.

Ironforge had caught not only Kale's look in his direction - but the way Mercy had been looking at the rainbow stallion. Clearly they had not hit it off right away - which was fine, there was no rule which said trainer and student had to be the best of friends...but he could not afford to be the kind one in this equation. Mercy had to learn to trust Kale if she was going to learn from him and so he would ensure that if she disliked Kale..she disliked him even more. At least right now..in the beginning. Before she realized that this had always been only for her own good.

Leaning down he marrowed his eyes at the pinned mare "I know who you are, just as you know who I am...it is not wise to run into situations you know nothing about...I suggest you learn your place and learn it quickly." He told her in a harsh voice. He had ever been quite so harsh to Kale..but Kale had not displayed this type of disposition either. Snorting he moved away from the mare "She needs a great deal of work" He told Kale blandly.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale stood and watched as Ironforge gave Mercy his own dose of reality. He didn't like treating a mare like this and he knew Ironforge didn't either, even if she was here to train to become a knight. But there was an important lesson to learn, she needed to learn respect and that there were rules to follow. Never show up late, respect your trainer and keep your head in the game. Perhaps after this little display Mercy would rethink things a bit. As Ironforge moved away from Mercy, after imparting some wisdom on her, Kale stepped towards his old mentor. "Indeed she does." And then in a lower voice so only Ironforge could hear him he added. "Are you sure she can even do this?" It's not that he didn't want to give Mercy a chance, but there was a chance they could both be simply wasting their time on their naive little mare.

Turning he looked over at Mercy. "Get up. We have work to do." She may have been given the first lesson from Ironforge but that didn't mean the day was over. In fact this was going to be a long day, a very long day. "A knight needs focus, strength, wisdom and many other aspects on their side, all working together. You lack all of these right now. But with time we get you into shape." He stood in front of her a few feet away. "We are going to spar, to test your reflexes, strength and knowledge of defense." Kale made sure to stand tall, his large body an imposing, if not colorful, image. "Make the first move princess."  

[JetAlmeara]

"No" Ironforge replied, turning his head to look at the pale mare who was still recovering on the ground - from shock he knew more then injury. He had been very careful not to hurt her. Sighing slightly he turned to regard Kale again "But I promised I would try...besides I wasn't so sure about you at first either and look how that turned out" The shaggy stallion concluded. Kale, while he certainly hadn't been as naive as the filly before them had been a far cry from the stallion he was now when he had first come to Ironforge. But he had been older as well...Ironforge was sure that at some point in time Kale had been a naive little colt himself. He knew he had been, perhaps even a bigger fool then the both of them given his past.But he wasn't about to share that thought at the moment.

"Give it your best shot..I think she has a good heart and that counts for a lot in the end. Good hearts can be turned into great knights." Ironforge encouraged the rainbow stallion - quite well aware that he might have given the rainbow stallion his greatest challenge to date. Certainly it wouldn't be easy, but he would be here to help when it was needed.

Mercy was indeed still in shock, in fact her mind was wheeling, she'd barely begun to register fear before the stallion had moved on. Everything had happened so fast...and this was not how she had expected thing to go. How could her father have done this to her? Did he even know what he had gotten her into? He couldn't...could he?

Snorting she regained her feet, turning about to see where the two stallions had gotten to - they were talking she saw and she shook herself off. Maybe she should just go home..but she couldn't..that would be admitting she couldn't do this and despite Kale and Ironforge she was sure that she could. Mercy was far to stubborn to just..give up.

Of course that resolve weakened slightly when the rainbow stallion spoke again. Spar?!? He wanted to Spar? Mercy hadn't fought anything in her entire life...heck she hadn't even play fought as a foal because all the other foals in her herd had been far to small for such rough play from her. But she had to prove that she could do this...somehow. Steeling her resolve Mercy narrowed her eyes slightly "I'm not a princess" She stated before darting forward only to whirl around and lash out at the stallion with her back hooves. It wasn't a particularly graceful move..and it was highly apparent that she really had no bloody idea what she was doing.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale couldn't help but smile at Ironforge. True he hadn't been the picture of a future knight when he had first approached the shaggy stallion asking him to become his mentor, but he was fairly certain he was more mature and had his head more in the game that Mercy did. "I won't give up on her if you won't." He told his mentor before turning his attention back to Mercy. Well at least she was back on her feet but he could see the shock registering on her features when he told her they would be sparring. From what little Kale knew about this mare, from the things Ironforge had told he, he doubted she had ever sparred or did anything similar in her life. But she had to start somewhere and it was better here in the practice ring then out there in the real world against someone with far more experience.

Her moves were sloppy at best. Kale was able to turn himself, so that the impact of her hooves, if he could even call it that, hit his thick muscled hip area and gave a little push with them as well, trying to either off balance her - which should be a piece of cake - or simply put space between them again. Because he was trying to judge any possible skill she had he would remain as her target for now, allowing her to hit him but soon enough he would, very gently, throw some hits her way as well to judge her reactions to those. "Are you sure?" He asked her with a smile. "Because you sure kick like a princess. Come on girly I barely felt that one. What are you doing trying to scare away a fly?" In a way he wanted her to get a little angry, sometimes it helped to tap into a strength that an individual might not otherwise know they possessed.  

[JetAlmeara]

His response to her kick was hardly reassuring in regards to her ability. His little push back was enough to send her stumbling forward, but a flare of her wings had her regaining her balance..and the small wing flare reminded her finally, that she had abilities and assets that the rainbow stallion did not.

Mercy was not a stupid mare, inexperienced perhaps...but not stupid and once she realized that she had a potential advantage to use she used them. Her stumble had given her a bit of space and whipping around she leapt into the air, using her wings to gain more height then a typical jump would give her before folding them to drive herself forward, brandishing her horn in a momentum aided lunge that..perhaps with a bit more practice showed signs of being a potentially decent attack. Of course..right now it was still a bit on the clumsy side..but at least she seemed to be thinking about her situation a bit more then she had a few moments ago. His comments made her growl a bit - attacking a fly? She'd show him ! She would!

Ironforge moved back as the sparring got underway, falling silent to keep from distracting either combatant. The mares first attack was sloppy..as was her second - although that one at least showed a good level of creativity and thought. That was something Kale could work with at least. No he wouldn't give up on her...not so long as she showed a sliver of promise. Her name was Mercy...it was a core trait in the realm of Knights and surely she wouldn't have been named such if she didn't embody at least some of it right?

Only time would tell..but Ironforge was willing to take that time and he was sure Kale was a well. Both of them were given to bringing more Knights into the world..to spreading good and pushing back the shadows of evil that had lately become so prominent. They couldn't do it alone..but with others..perhaps...they could make a real difference someday.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

He had not been surprised to see her stumble at his slight push. She had shown on two other occasions, when they first met, that her balance was quite terrible but she was relatively quick to recover, which was at least a good asset. It may have been a small point but she had to start some where and as he watched her use her wings to steady herself he wondered if she would use them in other ways. To his surprise she did. Those wings helped her gain an extra height advantage over a normal jump and Kale was forced to move aside to avoid being struck by her horn. So she did remember that she had a natural weapon at her disposal. All Soquili have their hooves and teeth to work with but a horn was an extra advantage, as were her wings. "Well, well." He said as he repositioned himself, allowing her to come close to striking him but still keeping away from the tip of that horn. "Princess seems to have learned something already."

This was that spark of hope Kale was wishing to see. If she could use her wings and horn to her advantage against him then perhaps she wasn't such a completely lost cause after all. But that was only one attack and it had still been quite messy. He had had plenty of time to move, as he was certain anyone would have. She needed to become faster, more precise. Now it was his turn to lead in this dance. Spinning so he fully faced her again Kale let out two quick kicks, deliberately holding them back so they would not connect unless she rushed forward - but he wasn't trying to hit her, but to drive her back. Then the massive stallion reared up, his neck arching and his hooves starting the descent back towards the ground, teeth barred and aiming to bite her shoulder. He would of course hold back if he did make contact. No sense in badly injuring a student on the first day, but he had to see what she would do under the presence of an attacker.  

[JetAlmeara]

Mercy was feeling pretty good about herself...true Kales 'praise' could hardly be considered great - it was only one small step up from the teasing he'd been giving her earlier...but she had forced him to move and that had to count for something! Of course no sooner had she thought this then to her surprise the colourful stallion brought the fight to her.

His two quick strikes had her dancing backwards to avoid them, snorting in surprise, surprise that was quickly over shadowed by sudden fear when he reared up to lunge at her. Frightened at how large he was in comparison to her Mercy reared up to try and avoid the strike, instinctually lashing out with one fore-hoof to try and ward off his bite. This however did little but make her leg the target of his strike rather then her shoulder - which would have been bad if Kale was not holding back. Perhaps if she had reacted with more aim and less sudden fear she might have done better.

The fight continued and Ironforge continued to watch. He was rather pleased to see hos well Kale was able to control his strikes - such control meant that the rainbow stallion was in full control of his abilities..something that Ironforge had spent a great deal of time stressing during his training. It was nice to see that he had not fallen out of shape since he had been deemed worthy of being called a Knight and ceased his formal training.

Mercy on the other hand seemed to be caught off guard by the sudden change of tactics..as Kale stopped simply defending and instead attacked the mare lost all sorts of composure, striking out with blind instinct rather then any sort of skilled attempt to defend herself. Yes..there was much to do in regards to her training.  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale's teeth snapped shut no more than a few hairs widths away from Mercy's leg. In her panic she had made him pull back to avoid seriously injuring her. Had he clamped down on her leg there was the potential she would have to retire the idea of becoming a knight on the first day. But it had also showed him how very little she knew about fighting. He hadn't expected much else out of her, she was young, naive and very inexperienced. Yet without the help fro himself and Ironforge she would likely never learn anything of use. They all had a long road ahead of the and while Kale still had his doubts about this he was willing to give it his full effort until Ironforge told him to do otherwise.

His hooves crashed to the ground and Kale took a quick step back. "Enough." He called out to Mercy letting her know their little fight had come to an end. While he would have liked to push her a bit more Kale also knew the importance of allowing a student time to regain themselves. Mercy would require much more work than he had during his training, but perhaps between himself and Ironforge they might be able to pull this off. "You have much to learn young one. You panic when you should think and then react. Something we will be working on much in the coming days." Kale glanced back at Ironforge, waiting to see if the shaggy stallion had anything to add. He likely did, Ironforge liked getting the last word in during training.  

[JetAlmeara]

Mercy was glad when the colored stallion called out a stop to this little spar as she returned to the ground, wings shuffling nervously as she regarded him to make sure it wasn't some sort of trick. No it seemed to be real...he looked as though he was finished. That was good because well...she was tired, quite tired. and she blew slightly and let her wing droop a bit as she listened to Kale's assessment of her poor skills.

She was far to tired to think of a witty come back however and so merely stood and listened while she rested. Perhaps she would think of something later and store it away for the next time they trained...which would probably be fairly soon - these two looked like they took this whole training thing a bit more seriously then she had expected them too.

One thing was certain this was certainly no walk in the park with gallant Knights and fair Maidens.

"Kale is correct, panic like that in a true fight and you'll soon find yourself limping about on three legs rather then four..or worse" He advised the mare, pausing while he considered the next course of action, mulling over the various training methods that he thought would be useful for her. "I believe she needs a good dose of shock therapy in addition to her normal training" He told Kale referring vaguely to a form of training which involved startling the student with unexpected training sessions so that they learned to observe what was happening around them at all times rather then only when they knew something was coming. Perhaps with enough exposure to this sort of thing Mercy would learn to not only be watchful..but also to control her responses and panic less often.

That would be of course only a start of things but it would be a good start and he could amend his recommendations as time wore on if the mare improved. "Give her some directions to the herd, I've already advised Zhevra to keep an eye out for her"  

[She-Ra of Etheria]

Kale nodded at Ironforges words. It was good indeed that Mercy was here with them instead of out there where her actions would likely get Mercy killed, or at the very minimum badly injured. Shock therapy, while it might seem cruel, was quite fitting in this case. Mercy needed to learn to calm her fears and make sure her actions were needed before leaping into something or away from it as the case may be. "This way. I'll show you to the main path." With that Kale led Mercy out of the training grounds. He walked in silence, something that she would learn was important with time. One needed to hear their surroundings and that could not be achieved without being quiet themselves. Though honestly he doubted she would say much at this point.

Once at the main path Kale came to a stop. "Follow this until you reach the fork, then turn left. It winds a bit through the trees but it will lead you to the herd where Zhevra will be waiting. He's a shaggy brute like Ironforge, but bears a horn like you do. He'll take you where you need to go for now. We will meet up with you later." With a slight bow of his head Kale turned and went back to where Ironforge was, they had a lot to discuss in regards to Mercy's training.